Guest Post: The "Solution" Is Collapse

So the root problem is the system, human nature, blah blah blah. There are no "solutions" that can fix those defaults. Thus the "solution" is collapse.

Policies create incentives and disincentives. Some are intended, some fall into the category of unintended consequences. Regardless of their intention, policies that create windfalls ("easy money") or open spigots of "free money" (or what is perceived as free money by the recipient) quickly gather the allegiance of everyone reaping the windfall or collecting the free money.

This allegiance is soon tempered into political steel by self-justification: humans excel at rationalizing their self-interest. Thus my share of the swag is soon "absolutely essential."

Humans don't need much incentive to pursue windfalls or free money--seeking windfalls in the here and now is our default setting. Taking the pulpit to denounce humanity's innate greed, avarice and selfishness doesn't change this, as seeking short-term windfalls has offered enormous selective advantages for hundreds of thousands of years.

That which is painful to those collecting free money will be avoided, and that which is easy will be pursued until it's painful. Borrowing $1.5 trillion a year from toddlers and the unborn taxpayers of the future is easy and painless, as toddlers have no political power. So we will borrow from the powerless to fund our free money spigots until it becomes painful.

It won't become painful to borrow from our grandkids for quite some time, and it will probably not become progressively painful, either, because we will suppress the pain with superlow interest rates and other trickery. The pain will more likely be of the sudden, unexpected, "this can't be happening to me" heart-attack sort: the free-money machine will unexpectedly grind to a halt in some sort of easily predictable but always-in-the-future crisis.

"Solutions" that turn off the free money spigots are non-starters, not just from self-interest but from ideology. Any attempt to tighten the spigots steps on ideological toes, as each spigot is ideologically sacred to one political camp or another.

Liberals don't want to hear about scamming of their sacred "we must help everyone in need" welfare programs, and conservatives don't want to hear about cartel looting of their sacred "free enterprise" system.

And so we have gridlock, what I call profound political disunity. Everybody at each trough of free money fights tooth and nail to keep their spigot wide open, and so the "solution" is to borrow 10% of the nation's output in "free money" every year until the free-money machine breaks down.

Each ideology worships their own version of cargo-cult economics: if we wave the dead chicken over the enchanted rocks while dancing the humba-humba, prosperity and abundance will magically return and we can "grow our way out of debt."

We're like a sprawling family bickering over the inheritance: we'll keep arguing over who deserves what until the inheritance is gone. That will trigger one final outburst of finger-pointing, resentment and betrayal, and then we'll go do something else to get by.

The political adjunct to this systemic implosion is that the productive people just stop supporting the Status Quo because it's become too burdensome. The calculus of self-interest shifts from supporting the bloated, marginal-return Status Quo to abandoning it.

So the root problem is the system, human nature, blah blah blah. There are no "solutions" that can fix those defaults. The "solution" is collapse, as only collapse will force everyone to go do something more sustainable to get by.

Until then, arguing about "solutions" is a sport to be enjoyed sparingly.

Nietzsche: "that which is about to fall deserves to be pushed" -- the premise of Atlas Shrugged, no? So. Whose gonna be our Ragnar Danneskjold or our Francisco d'Anconia? If Bill Gates wanted to do some good, he'd quit pissing his money down a hole in Africa and instead help push the reset button -- he'd be a hero for ages, rather than being forgotten within 50 years of his death the way he is headed now.

10% of GDP is added to debt each year, which given that debt is currently at 100% of GDP means that debt is essentially growing at 10% per year while GDP grows at less than 2% per year. So the economy doubles in roughly 35 years while the debt doubles in 7 years.

Yeah, sounds like a sustainable path to me.

/sarc>

What would be nice to hear just once is a serious discussion of the evils of baseline budgeting.

Please do not lower Nietzsche by mentioning him in the same breath as that idiot Rand. She's a clown, the same people who used her to attract idiots like you to their cause laughed at her stupidity behind her back.

Interesting that you should respect Nietzsche, whom I respect as well, yet on the basis of no understanding of my personal philosophy whatseover decide that I must be an idiot. Care to expand?

There is also a big difference between Rand's philosophy, which is incomplete and therefore stillborn and lifeless, and her novels, which are quite penetrating studies into the routes by which society becomes parasitized and eventually collapses. Philosophy was not her strong point, that was a bridge too far for her. She was able to understand people and human nature in a way that remained almost subconscious for her -- she was able to replicate the progression of the disease of the tragedy of the commons without ever being able to consciously spell out exactly what philosophical errors were being made when it was pursued.

Some of his news flashes are alarmist, but by and large you don't hurt yourself by mining his websites for useful information. Doesn't mean you have to believe he is the next Paul Revere, just that even if his main motivation is capitalizing on the growing survivalist/prepper movement, he still highlights events of significant concern that the corrupt MSM will never tell you about.

Maybe he's a sincere believer, maybe he's just a psy-op frontman for the spook branch of the NWO. I know that I've been helped towards my current state of awareness by guys like him, Jim Sinclair, James Rawles, Bob Chapman (RIP), Gonzalo Lira, and of course Ron Paul.

They are sources and influences, but in the end we're the captains of our own intellectual ships.

You're just sad because the real terrorist tricked bush into attacking Aphghanistan to bankrupt our country. News flash, Bin Laden won, the game was over before the Kenyan took office. It's been extend and pretend since then.

I thought so too, until the recent word that Flip Romulan was seen at the Build-a-Burger conference. Since Flip is nothing but a pure vanilla version of Barry O, I think the establishment is quite pleased to select him as their puppet of choice.

It's quite possible that they soured on Barry because he truly and demonstrably doesn't really give a fuck about the job.....other than the considerable perks. Those he clearly enjoys.

Me too but I'd at least like to know that his own flesh and blood has the same convictions that I do. Maybe he is playing the game but I DON'T WANT TO PLAY and I'd have more respect for him if he didn't either.

Agreed. But I had my reservations when watching them being interviewd side by side. Rand would tread lightly on certain questions that Ron would respond boldly to. I had hoped it was due to inexperience, but we all know where "hope " has brought this nation now.

Robot: Hey Senator Paul, Robot here. Listen, there's no way I can win without getting a good chunk of your Dad's supporters on board. So, in the interest of party unity and paying back the interests of the libertarian independents, how would you feel about the VP nod?

Rand: Hold on, let me call Dad first.

RP: Oh f-ck yea Son....I thought the best we'd get would be the Sec Treasury slot! Like they say in Prometheus, big things have small beginnings! Have them reboot the Robot and input the new programming!